Truth or Dare?
by Seph
Summary: (Complete!) Jack, Will, and Liz all gather for a little game... Truth or Dare! Just a silly little ficlet of PotC character fun!
1. Round One

Truth or Dare?  
  
Disclaimers: Uh... consider the story disclaimed.  
  
A/N- Just a silly ooc piece to mark me as part of the PotC fanfic writer band wagon. I've seen the movie twice *and hopefully will see it again soon!* so don't kill me if the characters don't seem too... in character. As I said, it's a silly ooc piece where Jack introduces a game called Truth or Dare to his friends.  
  
A/N 2- If you like it, give me a review. If you have suggestions for future truth and dare fun, suggest them in the review section too! This is just a trial attempt, and if there's a good response, there may be future chapters forthcoming with more characters added!  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jack Sparrow sat in a relaxed sprawl across the center of a large cushioned chair. That piece of furniture alone occupied the main position within the sparsely decorated room. It really was a comfortable chair, and in Jack's point of view it was the only wonderful thing in the room, besides the smart bottle of rum in his hand that was.  
  
Will Turner sat across from him, settled just as nicely in a huge comfy love seat and Elizabeth Swann monopolized its other half. The pirate knew the seat and chair formed a complete set together, but he could not appreciate the second piece's beauty because he was not sitting in it.  
  
Despite not being actually married, the boy and the lass had the look of newly weds about them, and ignoring the two was all Jack could do to keep his tolerance in check. He had planned his visit back to Port Royale to be a short one, but if their loveyness kept up, it would be much shorter than planned. Well, the rum Will treated him to helped considerably.  
  
And that was when a sudden idea struck across the drinking pirate's mind. "What say you to a game of truth or dare to pass the time?"  
  
Will gave him a curious look. "Truth or dare? What's that?" Elizabeth, sitting awfully closer to Will than the two person seat demanded, displayed a similar intrigued expression in her eyes.  
  
Jack revealed his gold teeth in an open grin. His hand, the one that wasn't holding the bottle, raised itself and gestured aimlessly while he began to explain. "Well, it's a pirate game," he began, pausing slightly as if searching for the words to continue. "You can choose 'truth' or 'dare' and someone will challenge you. Choose truth, and they'll ask you a question which you answer true, truthfully. Pick dare and they'll dare you to do something which you have to do..." His hand circled the air beside him. "Unless you don't, which means you lose. Savvy?"  
  
Hesitantly, Will nodded his head. Soon, Elizabeth mirrored his response.  
  
Jack grinned, revealing his two rows of gold infiltrated teeth once more. "Oh good, no worries then. Since you two are new, I'll start." He eagerly turned his gaze upon Will. "You're first, lad. Truth or dare?"  
  
The pirate's expression of glee expanded as Will chose insecurely. "Truth..."  
  
"Alright, mate. Are you really a eunuch?"  
  
The blacksmith's reaction was instantaneous, "NO!"  
  
"Jack!" Even Elizabeth was surprised by the question.  
  
The pirate in question peered back at his friend, looking very unconvinced by the answer. "Come on, Will, tell the truth."  
  
"That IS the truth!"  
  
"So you say," Jack muttered in retort though he allowed it to drop. He opted to take a drink from his bottle instead. Glancing back at the other two, he motioned to them with his bottle. "Will, now you ask the lassie if she wants truth or dare."  
  
"Truth or dare, Elizabeth?"  
  
Elizabeth, despite being a lady, was a lot more confident than Will. Looking as if she had to prove something through her decision, she announced her choice proudly, "Dare."  
  
Jack appeared to look proud of her decision too. Thrusting his hand gripping the rum bottle outwards, he spoke, perhaps a bit too loudly, "Dare her to drink rum!" He quickly pulled his arm back when he found both his friends glaring at him. Having enough sense to look slightly sheepish, Jack clapped his hands together with the bottle balanced precariously in between, his sign of mild apology. "Was just suggesting."  
  
Elizabeth turned back to the blacksmith. "What will you dare me to do, Will?"  
  
Will seemed to consider for a moment, then turned to his beloved. "Elizabeth, I dare you to..." Seeing Jack holding his breath out of the corner of his eyes, Will smiled again. "...kiss me."  
  
Jack's eyes widened in surprise. Opening his mouth, the captain soon realized there really was nothing he could say in protest and shut it again. Even as Elizabeth agreed wholeheartedly to complete the dare, the pirate muttered to himself, "He was s'posed to make it hard." He should have expected as much, Will was too soft on the lass.  
  
While Elizabeth on the other hand could be completely ruthless. "Truth or dare, Jack?" She shot the question at him as soon as her dare was done, a sight which Jack missed in preference to drinking. Really, he could see more pirate in Elizabeth than Will sometimes.  
  
Straightening up in his seat, Jack attempted to look impressive. "Dare!"  
  
Elizabeth grinned as if she was hoping Jack would choose that. "Captain Jack Sparrow, I dare you to..."  
  
Reading something in Elizabeth's expression, Will waited eagerly for her to finish while Jack kept up his confident pretense.  
  
"...not drink rum for a week!"  
  
"One week!?" Jack sputtered and nearly choked on the very beverage Elizabeth was forbidding him to drink. Oh, how right he was, the lady was ruthless.  
  
Will wasn't any more supporting either, the blacksmith had bursted out in laughter. "You have to do it Jack," the boy was saying when recovered, "Or you would lose."  
  
Jack had to reconsider his earlier estimation of Will's pirate characteristics. Perhaps the lad and Elizabeth were both as bad. But that wouldn't be his major concern at the moment, his rum restriction was. He attempted a bargain. "One hour!"   
  
And she shouted right back. "Five days!"  
  
"One day!"  
  
"Four!"  
  
"Two!" Jack waved his hand and quickly added, "I won't drink any wine either!"  
  
The pirate watched with dismay settling into his features as Elizabeth smiled triumphantly. "Deal."   
  
Yet, it seemed to take Will several seconds before he realized something. "You're still drinking," he pointed out to Jack.  
  
The pirate's crestfallen expression picked up so suddenly that it left the other two suspicious. "Ah, you never specified the date. I'll complete that dare someday." Grinning at both their surprised faces, Captain Jack Sparrow lifted his bottle up in an imaginary toast. "As for now... Drink up me 'arties, yo ho!" 


	2. Round Two

Round Two  
  
A/N- Thank you to all those that reviewed! Wow, I didn't think I'd get so many of them for this random fic of silliness of mine. To those of you that suggested something, I'll try my best to fit them in, and if not, they could always be ideas in future chapters(under the assumption that there will be), ne? Please, tell me what you think of this chapter, and keep the ideas coming!  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jack Sparrow still sat in the middle of his large cushioned chair, the same one that seemed to embrace him with the warmth of a tavern wench's arms. It was a comfortable piece of furniture to be sure, but at the moment, the pirate captain wasn't comforted. Elizabeth, damn her rum hating attitude, had made sure he began fulfilling the horrible dare she laid upon him without further delay. And Will, Jack knew he should never have trusted that love sick whelp, had helped her in confiscating his much enjoyed bottle. Together, they had taken it away faster than he could say "pirate", so now, the opaque green bottle holding its brown contents was placed out of his reach between his two supposed friends.  
  
The pirate swore he would get back at both of them, and Captain Jack Sparrow was a man of his words... when he meant them. This time, he definitely meant them.  
  
"Will, truth or dare?"  
  
Will took in the calculating stare within the pirate's kohl lined eyes and winced inwardly. "You're going to make me regret having helped Elizabeth, aren't you?"   
  
The blacksmith's waited response came in the form of a gold toothed smile that looked too scoundrel like for comfort. Even with Jack Sparrow as his friend, Will was harshly reminded that he was dealing with a pirate.  
  
"I had ye warned." Jack's feral smile widened further. "Now choose, lad, truth or dare?"  
  
Great, he wasn't only dealing with a pirate, but a pirate that wanted revenge. At the moment, he decided 'dare' may not be the smartest choice, so he picked its only alternative, "Truth." The blooming smile spreading across his friend's features told him he may have chosen the wrong anyway.  
  
Jack's grin went into full flourish. "Is miss Swann still virgin?"  
  
From beside Will, Elizabeth flushed red, probably from both embarrassment and anger. "Captain Jack Sparrow!!"  
  
It was a knee-jerk reaction, Jack snapping his head in her direction. As was likely his response, "Aye!"   
  
But Will speaking drew his attention back onto the blacksmith. "Shouldn't you ask Elizabeth that?" The young man was growing scarlet in his cheeks too and Jack looked on with interest as Will went nearly as flustered as his bonnie lass.   
  
"Nay, mate. I'm sure you'd know." Slowly, the smug expression on the pirate's features faltered as he considered a probable reason to the hesitancy. The realization etched a light frown on his face and he muttered under his breath, "I knew you're a eunuch."  
  
"I will not tolerate the two of you talking as if I'm not here!" Elizabeth's strong voice echoed through the room, loudly enough to make Jack wince in his chair.   
  
The lass really had quite a voice for a dainty governor's daughter. Along that line of thought, Jack reckoned maybe it was better that Will remained an eunuch and stayed away from marrying her. There would be no living with such a loud mouthed lass, but then the pirate knew better. The lad had the tendency to do stupid things, he wouldn't be able to tell if anything was good for him. Grimacing, both in expression and expressed as a slight waving of his ringed fingers, Jack shook his head. "No good," he figured.  
  
In the meanwhile, Will was looking towards Elizabeth as if for help, but if help was what he was truly looking for, he was disappointed. Elizabeth was just busy glaring ahead at one Jack Sparrow. So with his face still blushing deep pink, Will murmured softly, "...no."  
  
Jack was shaken out of his reverie by the word. "What?" he questioned, having genuinely missed what Will said. Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably in the corner of his vision.  
  
"The answer is 'no'," Will repeated once more, also shifting slightly. Jack's reemerging roguish grin made him squirm even more in his seat.  
  
"There, that wasn't so hard." Jack moved to take a swig from his bottle of rum before he realized his bottle was still sitting between the blushing couple. The pirate furrowed his brows. Why hadn't he dared Will to give him back his rum?! "Probably for the same reason he chose truth," he muttered, throwing his hands up in frustration. At this rate, he would never get the bottle back.  
  
By then, the two had recovered enough to continue with the game. "Truth or dare?" Will asked Elizabeth.  
  
"Truth," she replied, said with the same certainty she answered 'dare' in earlier.  
  
Will didn't even consider his question this time. Taking Elizabeth's soft hands into his own rough ones, he met her eyes and launched directly into his heart's inquiry, "Have you ever regretted loving me?"  
  
Jack fell backward into his seat with an exasperated expression. He knew it was too much to expect anything interesting from Will, but it was still slightly disappointing to see what a mess he made of the pirate game. The blacksmith had showed such promise in all areas of piracy too, perhaps just not in their games. Jack will have to remedy that later.  
  
Much, much less frustrated with Will's question than Jack was, Elizabeth held her lover's callused hands back tightly. "No," she answered in a firm solid word, "Nor will I ever. I love you, Will."  
  
"I love you too, Elizabeth."  
  
"And I love me rum," Jack added in a low mutter across from them. Still, it was good to see his friends happy even if they were being a bit too sweet on each other. Now, how he wish they would make him happy too. His cheek muscle twitched when he realized that won't happen anytime soon.  
  
Thankfully, the sugary moment didn't last too long and soon Elizabeth was ready to resume. "Will Captain Jack Sparrow choose truth or dare?"  
  
"Da... eh... Truth." If Jack had wanted to choose dare before, one look at his poor confiscated bottle reminded him what this missy was capable of. He will take his chances with truth.  
  
Elizabeth stared at Jack curiously. "Have you ever spoken a single truth in your life?"  
  
That was it? The pirate captain could almost sigh in relief. He had expected the lass to ask something awful from him, like if he loved her. It would have been horribly tragic to answer truthfully and break her heart. Really, it wouldn't have worked out between them.   
  
Gaining his wavered confidence, Jack took up a charming smile. "O'course, darling. I always tell the truth. When have I lied to ye?"  
  
From Will's direction, Jack thought he heard a mumbled answer that sounded awfully like "Right now."  
  
Jack sat up in his chair and frowned. "I'd like you to know I don't lie to my friends... unless I have to of course. Those would be special circumstances... environments... orientations..." Finishing, he waved his hands in dismissal. "Nevermind."  
  
"Alright, now the question I-" Before Elizabeth could finish though, she was interrupted by the pirate holding up a hand.   
  
Slowly, Jack placed down his hand and grinned in his tooth revealing, skin crinkling, open, carefree manner. "Sorry, luv, but you already asked your question."   
  
And realizing that she did, Elizabeth couldn't do anything but shut her hanging mouth. "Bloody pirate." 


	3. Round Three

Round Three  
  
A/N- Wow! You guys love me... *tries to hide his sentimental moment sniffles* Reviews!!! And great suggestions! *laughs* I was thinking along some of those same lines as well, though for some of them, I figured the characters must be god awful drunk in order to even make those dares, not to mention actually doing them. Still, keep the ideas flowing, you'd never know what might actually happen! Btw, any/all historical facts are made up. *chuckles* And oh yes, hard to believe, but I am a guy. Savvy? Either way, I can understand the confusion, no harm done!  
  
A/N2- I've received an e-mail from someone asking me what Eunuch means. I tried replying but I can't seem to reply to the e-mail address. If you still don't know though, I suggest you search it up in Dictionary.com. *winks* You'll be very amused, I guarantee ya.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was the beginning of the third round, and all of the game's participants were still sitting where they were for the previous two rounds, with the exception of Jack's rum. That was sitting between Will and Elizabeth, a sorry place for such a fine bottle to be if Jack had any say. But he doesn't, so even for the third round, it remained there as well, winking sorrowfully at Jack, who, returned the same desolate expression back.  
  
Still, after one such mistake and a second time that surely upset the fair miss Swann, Jack thought it would be long overdue to avoid such an encounter. Who knows what that woman may scheme up next?  
  
Raising dirt encrusted finger to draw the attention of his fellow playmates, Jack flashed them a golden smile. "Lad, luv, let's change this around. Let's have you," he pointed his lifted finger towards Elizabeth, "ask him," the finger swung over towards Will, "truth or dare."   
  
It was a smart move, an intelligent step, for Jack Sparrow. Not only was the threat to him removed, it was replaced by someone who, Jack gave Will another glance over, could hardly come up with a truth, or dare, that could harm him. The captain grinned proudly at himself. It was an arrangement he was quite confident of.  
  
Elizabeth gave Jack an upraised eyebrow, giving the pirate a distinctive feeling that she knew his very thoughts, before she turned away, much to Jack's relief. As Jack had told her, she asked Will the question, "Truth or dare?"  
  
The lad, much to Jack's chagrin, didn't even look remotely nervous and even had on a trusting smile as he turned back to his bonny lass. "It doesn't matter, which one do you want to ask me?" Jack could nearly slap his own forehead in exasperation. Again, the captain looked longingly towards his confiscated rum, thinking it would be so much easier for him if he had a drink in hand.  
  
"That won't do," Jack spoke up when he was quite sure the rum wouldn't grow legs and walk back to his hand. He lifted his gaze from the bottle and onto the two human faces. "You can't have her choose, lad. You," he emphasized the point by waving his hand in Will's direction, "have to pick one. She already gets to ask the question, savvy?"  
  
"Oh..." Will nodded his head slightly and randomly picked one, "Truth then."  
  
Jack sighed again. What had possessed him to think Will would make a great pirate? The lad doesn't even have the courage to pick dare!  
  
Elizabeth on the other hand smiled, smiled in the way that was reassuring to Will, a promise that nothing of harm would happen. "Will, have you ever thought of becoming a pirate?"  
  
Both men in the room blinked, surprised by the question. But it was Jack who first came out of his shake and came out with a large amplifying grin on his face. Whatever the reason was, he was very glad that the lady asked that question. Why didn't he think of it himself? "Well, lad? What is it? Have ye?"  
  
"No." The answer came as a flat refusal, one made without strength in his voice nor eye contact with his friends.  
  
"The truth, lad. You must answer in truth."  
  
"... well, maybe a little. But I will never enter a life of piracy! This I swear upon my father's grave."  
  
"Who was a bloody scalawag," Jack added with a laugh, and instantly said no more. It was enough that Will was glaring at him and looked almost pained by the reminder. At that, the captain clapped his hands together in a sign of an oriental apology. "He was a good man," Jack attempted to amend in a solemn tone. When the blacksmith seemed to accept that and calmed down, Jack broke back into a smile and gestured at Will. "Your turn."  
  
"Truth or dare, Jack?"  
  
"Da..." Jack glanced towards his friend's eager expression and made a face. He could save courage for another time. After all, Will, seemingly only when around Jack, has the tendency to do incredibly stupid things. "I think I'll go with truth."  
  
The pirate disliked that inquisitive gleam coming from his friend's eyes. "Jack, just how did you get off that island?"  
  
A hurt look crossed the captain's features. As the beginning of his story, Jack gestured with his hands towards Elizabeth. "Well, we were drinking rum..." He was interrupted when Will waved his hands for Jack to stop.  
  
"No, I mean the first time you were marooned."  
  
"You mean you don't believe what Gibbs told you?" The scrunched up expression on the lad's face reminded Jack of someone who just drank sour rum.  
  
"Jack, he told me you rafted together several sea turtles."  
  
"Sea turtles...?" When Elizabeth asked, Jack made an attempt to smile slightly in the lass' general direction. The lady had the same look of disbelief upon her face as Will had when he first heard the story.  
  
"Yes, sea turtles, tied with human hair," Will filled in for Elizabeth's information.  
  
"From my back," Jack added smoothly afterwards. If they were to tell the story again, might as well make it a complete one.  
  
Almost as one, both Will and Elizabeth gave Jack that strange look, in which Jack grinned in an embarrassed fashion to. It was bad enough that Elizabeth found out the truth, and now, he had to tell the blacksmith. Who knew how tarnished his infamous Captain image would be after this. "Actually... I didn't use sea turtles. Sea turtles weren't big enough, you see. I roped together several sharks."  
  
"Sharks," Will echoed. That same unbelieving expression remained on Will's face, and Elizabeth held down the urge to roll her eyes.  
  
"Jack, you must answer the truth." Jack glanced towards the girl who had spoken with a light bit of pleading in his eyes, but Elizabeth only placed a hand elegantly onto her knee. "Truth."  
  
Knowing when he was outvoted, Jack sighed. "Truth it is, luv." Turning to Will, since it was Will who had asked, Jack answered. "I bartered a passage off with rumrunners who used the island as a cache." The blacksmith looked satisfied after that, but it made Jack wonder, what was wrong with his flawless story about the sea turtles?  
  
Finally, it was his turn. Jack can get back at Elizabeth for all the things she did, taking away his rum... not to mention burning it when they were on the island. It got them the passage off, right into the Navy's hands that was. Truth or dare was the pirates' game for revenge amongst allies.   
  
"Well, lass, what will it be? Will ye choose truth," Jack waved his hand to one side, "or dare?" He waved his other hand in the other direction.  
  
Even with the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow asking the questions, Elizabeth didn't hesitate to choose. "Dare."  
  
A malicious grin spread across the pirate's face, accentuated by the shining gold in his teeth. "Good. I dare you..." Jack swayed forward ever so slightly in his seat and gesticulated at Elizabeth, "to give me... my rum back."  
  
"You can do that?" Will asked, leaning forward as well. "Wouldn't that be violating the rules?"  
  
"Will, this is a pirate's game." Jack grinned and relaxed back into the comfortable chair. He could almost taste the rum already. "There be no rules."  
  
Surprisingly, Elizabeth remained unfazed, and even went as far as smiling pleasantly back at Jack. "You want your rum bottle back?"  
  
Jack regarded her suspiciously for a moment, but when he couldn't see anything wrong, he smiled widely once more. "Yes, I want my rum bottle back. That be the dare."  
  
"Fine." Picking up the bottle, Elizabeth made to look as if she was going to hand it back to Jack, and Jack, eager to receive his rum, held his hands outwards, when Elizabeth suddenly swerved it out of his grasp. Getting up from her seat suddenly, she walked out with his bottle of rum.  
  
Jack quickly got up and followed after her, trailed behind by Will. "Where are you going with my rum?!" He asked, an edge of hysteria creeping into his voice.  
  
Elizabeth didn't turn around and kept up with her large strides. "To give you back your bottle." In no time, she took them to the kitchen of the governor's mansion and stood over the wooden sop bucket, the one meant for the liquid waste of the kitchens. Before anyone could stop her, she poured out all contents of Jack's bottle.  
  
"No! NO! Don't do that! Don't pour out the rum!" Jack watched with a tortured look as the last of his precious brown liquid joined the disgusting wastes in the bucket. When he looked up again, Elizabeth was smiling at him smugly with the now empty bottle held before her.  
  
"Your bottle, captain." When he started to protest, she cut him off quickly. "I asked if you wanted the bottle, and you said you wanted the bottle. You didn't say anything about the rum." She smirked triamphantly again at Jack. "Here you go, your rum bottle."  
  
Looking down at the empty bottle, Jack snatched it out of Elizabeth's hand and tried to upend it over his own mouth. Nothing came out, not even a single drop. Glaring at the maiden and at the blacksmith who was laughing behind a smirk, Jack turned and began stalking back towards the room with the cushioned chair.   
  
Grumbling the whole time, he could hear both Will and Elizabeth laughing behind him. "That's the second time I've had to watch that woman destroy my rum." Jack was upset enough to not care that Will was in love with a scheming governor's daughter. Worse than pirates, she was. He had said it once, and he was even more convinced now."There'll be no living with that woman." 


	4. Round Four

Round Four  
  
AN- Wow, you guys love me! Thank you! This is the most reviews I've ever had for a story, and I am really grateful! If it wasn't for that infamous black out that shook the whole northern North America, I swear this update would have been sooner.   
  
AN2- And oh, yes... I think I will have only one more chapter after this one. I already have the final round planned, and it's hard to come up with new ideas for truth and/or dares that fits their characters, especially between Liz and Will, or between any other characters for that matter. If any of you can suggest some (besides the obvious suggested ones), then I may be able to add in a few more rounds before the finale. As for the already suggested ideas, I'd really love to put some of them in, and yes, I'm not a homophobic guy (not to mention I have quite a few yaoi loving friends... okay, some not so yaoi loving ones too, but anyway) so I don't mind writing a bit of fan service for all the female fans... but I reaaally can't imagine them making those dares without a reason. Nonetheless! -Due to popular demand, there will be some! *grins* Happy reading, guys. Oops. Gals. *winks*  
  
~Seph  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Several disgruntled moments and more than a few discontented strides later, Captain Jack Sparrow found himself back in the center of his overly stuffed cushioned chair. What had started as comfortable, then slowly declined to bearable, was now bordering on constrained after only a mere three rounds of truth or dare.   
  
Normally, truth or dare was a wonderful game, nearly as wonderful as weddings and celebrations. Drinks all around! But who would play a game of truth or dare without rum? And not just without rum, but even deprive him of his sole bottle of the miraculous drink? Why, Miss Elizabeth Swann, of course! Jack scowled as he glared at said woman out of the corner of his eyes.  
  
And she took absolutely no notice of the sulking pirate. Seated back in her side of the coupled sofa with Will on the other side of her, she turned to Will. Elizabeth was smiling as she prompted him with the game's line, "Truth or dare?"  
  
Jack swore that the woman was smirking at him secretly through her overly sweet grin. She probably thought it was funny. Reflecting on that chain of thought, Jack glowered again.  
  
Will faced Elizabeth back, similarly disregarding the pirate's uncharacteristic brooding, and returned her open smile. "Truth," he answered with a voice full of too much mirth for the captain's liking.  
  
Maybe his onesie was just being sour because he didn't have enough rum, Jack thought. Maybe they really weren't laughing behind his back and pretending to be sweet. And maybe heaven was a place full of rum. Jack backtracked on that last idea. That shouldn't be surprising. After all, the brown liquid Elizabeth had so heartlessly wasted, twice, was really god sent.  
  
The pirate captain sighed and returned his attention to the game. He suppose it would have to continue with or without his perfect drink in hand.  
  
"Have you ever thought of being anything other than a blacksmith?" Elizabeth asked Will.  
  
Jack saw that as the perfect place to jump in. "The lad wanted to sail under the command of a pirate," he supplied as he leaned forward. Jack's grin was back, and his brood seemed to have disappeared like the mist on an early morning sea. Before either lad or lass could interrupt him, the pirate turned to a stunned looking Will and resumed in a regrettable voice, "But boy, before ye become pirate, you must learn properly how to play truth or dare." It was sad turning down the lad, but it would sadder yet if he took on someone who spoke too much truth. He can't have stupid pirates.  
  
"Will, how could you?!"  
  
The blacksmith grimaced as Elizabeth turned her ire upon him. The only time he agreed to, and definitely not wanted to, sail under the command of a pirate was when Jack had him clinging to the boom of the commandeered Interceptor for his life. "Elizabeth, I never said that!" With imploring eyes, Will pleaded for Elizabeth to believe him.  
  
And to much of Will's relief, her gaze swung onto the one responsible for the misunderstanding.  
  
Found to be suddenly under the heat of her gaze, the pirate grinned and spread his arms out in a gesture of ignorance. "I'm sure he meant that," Jack revised his earlier statement, putting his hands together at the same time. When they looked as if they still didn't believe him, he gesticulated towards Will, "He did, in his heart."  
  
In one motion, Will and Elizabeth turned to face one another again. "No," Will answered, "I am only good at being a blacksmith."  
  
"Or a eunuch," Jack muttered under his breath. He revealed his gold teeth in a disarming smile when said eunuch, blacksmith, he mentally amended, turned to glare at him.  
  
"Truth or dare?" Will asked. If Jack didn't know better, he would think that sounded awfully like a challenge. And Jack would never turn down a challenge.  
  
"Dare," came the reply, the replier grinning lazily in his seat.  
  
A predatory smile spread across the young man's face. "Captain Jack Sparrow, captain of the Black Pearl, infamous pirate of the Spanish Main..."   
  
Jack's grin broadened proudly at the titles Will gave.   
  
"...I dare you to act like a gentleman."   
  
Jack's grin instantly wavered. "Only for the next turn or so," Will hastily added.  
  
Always the unmerciful one, Elizabeth snickered jovially from across the shocked pirate.  
  
"You must reconsider." Jack tried to give Will the same pleading look the lad sent Elizabeth earlier but his resulted with much less desirable conclusions.  
  
"I could make it one week long," Will pointed out, once again looking too delighted for Jack's comfort. Just thinking about acting like Norrington even for only a minute made Jack flinch. If he had to behave like the bloody Commodore for a week, he would truly go insane.  
  
"Lad, re-"  
  
"A gentleman wouldn't address anyone as 'lad'," Elizabeth helpfully reminded.  
  
Jack turned towards her. "But darli-"  
  
"Nor would they entitle respectable ladies as 'darling.'"  
  
"Now lu-"  
  
"No, Jack." Elizabeth was having entirely too much fun. Seeing the expression of pained uncertainty on the pirate's face had Will laughing hard beside her.  
  
Jack's brows furrowed. Not one minute of this and he was already having trouble. He was a soundrel, a bloody fine one at that. If he wanted to be a gentleman, he wouldn't have become a pirate in the first place! Glancing towards his friends again told him he could see he would get no help from them. Well then, he will act like a bloody gentleman for a turn. He will prove to them what Captain Jack Sparrow can do!  
  
He faced Elizabeth and began motioning towards her with his hands, "What will you choo-"  
  
"Gentlemen don't wave their hands about either," she interrupted suddenly. Her thin smirk nearly made Jack grit his teeth.  
  
"But gentlemen can get drunk," Jack replied around a teeth baring smile. His hand waved more for emphasis. "I'm a drunk gentleman." Will stiffled a laugh as Elizabeth gave Jack a strange look. Thankfully, she chose not to argue the point.  
  
"Truth or dare, lass?" A pointed glare later, Jack corrected himself, "Lady?"  
  
The sigh Elizabeth responded in was a long suffering one. "Dare."  
  
"Miss Swann," Jack had to speak slowly to ensure he got the right words, but that didn't stop his lewd smile from spreading over his teeth. "This... gentleman..." He gestured at himself while looking disgusted at the word, "dares you to give him, me," he gestured at himself again to accentuate the word, "a kiss."  
  
Instead of smiling and leaping into his arms as Jack had half expected, Elizabeth reacted differently. It was quite the opposite of what the captain had expected, as well as marginally dissimilar to what the strumpets in Tortuga would do. Captain Jack Sparrow could honestly say he never had someone grimace in abstract horror and withdraw into the back of their seat from him before. He put that down to his overbearing charisma.  
  
But he can say it wouldn't be the first time to have the lass' devotee look as if they wanted to draw a weapon on him, exactly in the same manner Will looked. It was quite a good imitation too, Jack thought, he could be fooled.   
  
When the silence stretched on for several seconds longer, Jack grinned again. "Or we can have the bo- Mr. Turner," he was proud to have corrected himself without help, "kiss me instead."  
  
It was a joke, or meant to be one, so no one was more surprised than him when Will then practically leapt from his seat. "I will!" the lad announced, desperate to save Elizabeth from the rogue of a pirate. "I won't let you kiss Elizabeth."  
  
"Will!" Elizabeth turned a stricken look upon the self sacrificing blacksmith.  
  
It was Jack's turn to push himself back into the cushioned support of his seat. His face grimaced and his fingers waved slightly in distress. "Will, don't do anything... stupid."  
  
Will had moved smoothly across the small distance between Jack and himself by then, and with only the barest hint of hesitation, he pushed his own lips upon the dry lips of the pirate.  
  
"Like this..." Jack murmured before he was engaged fully into the kiss.  
  
Elizabeth was caught between staring in horror and turning away in disgust.  
  
Several seconds later, the two men pulled apart. With a rather scourged expression on, Will staggered back to his seat.   
  
Jack touched a tongue to his wet lips, grinning in the same way the Cheshire cat would after a whole bottle of rum. "Excellent form," he murmured thoughtfully to himself, "excellent footwork too." The fact that he had just kissed, or was kissed by a man didn't bother the captain one bit. Such trivial things were below the pirate's concern. Turning to glance up at Elizabeth, Jack grinned again in his charming fashion. "You'll be well pleased with him, luv."  
  
His only answer came in the form of Elizabeth scrunching up her face and Will blushing. 


	5. Final Round: Part 1

Final Round - Part 1  
  
AN- First of all, I must wonder how many of you bother to read the author's notes, considering some of the stuff in the review section would have been answered in them... Anyway, so, I have finally come to the final round of this humorous piece! Really, the intense response to such a minor piece has truly left me stunned. A big thank you is in order for all those who reviewed and supported me, THANKS!  
  
AN2- As for the content in the previous chapter, I apologize to all who found it disturbing. No, despite what they did, it isn't slash, *grins at the reviewer who had to keep reminding herself that*. Will, in this story anyway, is quite devoted to Elizabeth, and it is due to that that he kissed Jack. I just kept Jack to his carefree manner and not be disturbed, that's all. Keeping that in mind, I hope no one will be disturbed by the contents of this last chapter. If you are, I apologize now. That done... on with the final round!  
  
And as a sudden decision that this final round was too long for it to be one chapter, I have decided to make it two... I know they would be slightly shorter than normal chapters, but the two added together would be much longer than a normal one! Either way, hope you like it!  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The silence that followed Jack's words was deafening. For more than several seconds, it lingered until Jack finally shifted uncomfortably in his overly stuffed chair and raised a hand before him. Waggling his fingers as if that would inspire someone to speak, the captain finally broke the awkward pause through a phrase of his own. "It's your turn," he spurred Elizabeth.  
  
Still looking quite disgusted at the questionable character of the pirate captain sitting across from her, Elizabeth decided to turn her eyes to the blacksmith. "Truth or dare, Will?"  
  
Jack, clearly the least affected one, smiled as he turned his eyes onto the boy as well... "...Truth." ...and frowned.  
  
"Lad, this be the fifth time you chose truth!" Raising his hands in a sign of exasperation, Jack promptly threw his hands back down. He was hoping Will would come about on his own, but it would seem that won't happen without some prodding from Captain Jack Sparrow. "It's a game for pirates! You need to do something..." Jack waved an arm extravagantly, "challenging!"  
  
"As a pirate should?"  
  
Encouraged by the slight sign of interest in the lad, Jack's fierce grin returned. "Aye, pirates cannot plunder and loot by being a coward, savvy?"  
  
Will lifted an eyebrow and was in the process of wondering if that was a veiled insult when Elizabeth replied for him instead. "That's no incentive for him to choose dare, Mr. Sparrow."  
  
Jack's gaze flickered to Elizabeth but another thought crossed his mind instead. Murmuring more to himself, he said in a voice barely loud enough for them to hear, "Even your bonnie lass has more courage than you."  
  
And seeing there was no way out of this, Will sighed. "Fine, dare."  
  
Jack caught the lass shooting him a dark glare before she had turned her attention to Will. That girl was too uptight for her own good, calling him Mister Sparrow this, Mister Sparrow that. Of course, the captain neglected to recall it was he who had provoked her during most of those cases.  
  
"Will, you don't have to if you don't want to," Elizabeth was saying in an attempt to ease the lad. No doubt she was trying to go against the lad's turn towards piracy. Jack could almost feel proud for Bootstrap's son, and for his old friend's pirating honor, he won't let the young Mr. Turner be dissuaded against his heritage. It became a matter of loyalty to a friend, not to mention and retribution against the woman who dumped his rum.  
  
"Sure he wants to!" He held up his empty bottle, momentarily forgetting it was empty, and offered it to Will. "Will, have a drink! It will steady you!" The pirate gave the pair dispensing strange gazes towards him a dismayed look when the memory of the bottle being empty returned. Grimacing, he sat back in his chair and waved them into continuing. "I know... pay him no mind, right?" He made a flourish gesture when he referred to himself.  
  
Like the pirate suggested, the blacksmith and the lass returned their attention upon each other prior to Jack's preposterous interruption. "You don't have to choose dare if you don't want to," Elizabeth was saying again. If Jack wasn't certain he would be ignored, he would have raised another protest. He only hoped that Bill won't blame him for how his son ended up. He wouldn't want to deal with the vengeful ghost of a friend so soon after his fun with the undead skeletons of his mutinous crew.  
  
"No, I am sure."   
  
Jack frowned again. Will and Elizabeth must be the only ones who could make truth or dare sound like a sappy romantic story, the ones the lass no doubt secretly reads. This, Jack promises himself, will be the last time he plays truth or dare with non pirates, or even half pirates. At least he won't end up kissing Gibbs if he dared Anamaria to a little close encounter. The thought caused the captain's cheek to twitch. No, he thought upon further reflection, he would end up getting slapped instead.  
  
Elizabeth took several seconds before continuing, as if she needed the time to choose a dare for Will. Finally, with the beginning of a smile curving the edge of her lips, she spoke, "Will, I dare you to teach me swordplay."  
  
"Right now?" Will had the look of a merman out of his water.  
  
"Darling, if you had wanted to learn, all ye had to do was ask!" Smiling like a merman in his water, Jack gesticulated at himself. "I would have gladly taught you."  
  
Elizabeth shot the captain a disgusted look. It would seem that his attempt to grant the lass' wish to kiss the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow had made her play hard to get once again. Or maybe she was just upset that her rare chance was ruined by an eunuch. Jack decided to contemplate that one later.  
  
"Will, you can teach me later. For now, just promise to complete the dare."  
  
Will smiled winsomely and held up a hand. "I promise."  
  
"Well, now that we have the sappy bit over, let's continue with the game." Mirroring the lad's smile but with a few more gold teeth, Jack placed his hands together in glee before they returned to their languid gestures. "Will, ask me the question."  
  
The blacksmith had to smile at his friend's unusual antics. "Truth or dare, Jack?"  
  
"Truth..." Jack glanced to both Elizabeth and Will, who were returning his gaze with arched brows and inquiries in their eyes. Not liking what those questions entitled, Jack smiled reluctantly. "I changed me mind, dare." He weaved his hand through the air in the silent rhythm of his own words. "It's the pirate's choice." He sounded like he was convincing himself.  
  
"Jack, I dare you to..." Will stalled and turned to Elizabeth for help, giving Jack an excuse to look amused. It would seem that the lad was running out of ideas for their little game. If Jack wasn't on the receiving end at the moment, he would be tempted to advise the lad to let his imagination sail, there was no boundaries to that horizon... perhaps only stupidity. No, Will having a free reign on what absurd dares he could think of doing could not be good.  
  
"... to wear a corset."  
  
In a moment of surprise, Jack allowed his jaw to go slack and turned to the woman who would even suggest such a thing.  
  
"Yes, wear a corset!"   
  
Then spun to gape at the man who would actually agree to it. Just when he thought Will couldn't make a more foolish dare... "I dare you to wear a corset, complete with a dress as well." ...he had to be proven wrong. Jack winced as if he was slapped.   
  
"But..." the captain trailed off. A glance told the pirate that he couldn't get out of the first part, Will and Elizabeth weren't even making a token effort to hide their wide grins, but perhaps he could still worm his way out of the second. "Will, me lad, respectable pirates don't wear dresses."  
  
As expected, Elizabeth had to question his words, "Pirates are respectable?"  
  
Fingers floundering the air in front of him, Jack struggled to pull together a dignifying story. And when he failed to come up with one, he made a dismissive gesture instead. "Respectable amongst ourselves. But the point is, pirates don't wear dresses. The lass doesn't have any to spare either, aye?"  
  
"No." Jack turned to look at Elizabeth to have his hopes crushed. "I am sure I can find you a dress." Smiling in a disgustingly sweet manner, Elizabeth got up. "Men, I will be right back." Without another word, she left the room, still smiling too sickly happy for Jack's comfort.  
  
Alone in the room with Will now, Jack shot the man a look crossed between annoyance and curiosity. "Dresses? Are you sure you're not eunuch?" 


	6. Final Round: Part 2

Final Round - Part 2  
  
AN- I had a lot of fun with this story, really. I'm not much of a humorous person, so I appreciated all of you out there who humored me and told me I was. *smiles* Thank ye all!  
  
And as for those that suggested I write something else after this, I'll think about it. Depends on the response here, I suppose. I tend to lose interest in all the long fanfics I write, so... we'll see!  
  
~Seph  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Several minutes later, Elizabeth had returned. True to her words, she found Jack a dress, a frilly pink oversized one that would fit even the rogue. It was not one she would lament over ruining, but from the pirate's reaction, Jack would definitely lament over wearing.  
  
"Darling, really, I don't think this is necessary." Jack had gotten up as soon as Elizabeth had appeared and was in the process of backing away. His fingers were twitching before him, as if they would provide meager protection against the horrible gown. "Pink's not my color..."  
  
"Come on, Jack." Trying to be supportive of the pirate's fate, Will stepped up beside his friend and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "No one will know, it's only us." Jack shot him a very dubious look that made Will sigh. "You have to, it's your dare." Jack never explained to them what the loser must do, but Will thought just the prospect of losing might shake the captain, and Jack didn't strike him as the type who liked to lose.  
  
At least Jack wasn't backing up anymore, the blacksmith thought as he began to guide a really reluctant pirate to where Elizabeth was waiting with both dress and corset.  
  
Jack took one look towards the item that would surely impede upon his breathing and glanced towards at Elizabeth hopefully with his most charming smile flashing. "Can we use a bodice instead?"  
  
Again, she crushed his hopes. "No, we agreed to a corset." That girl was worse than Barbossa, the pirate readily decided. While musing over that, he wondered if he should have shot her on that island after all. It would have saved him a lot of grief...  
  
Noticing the impatient glares that his two friends, yes, friends as friendly as his mutinous first mate, his mind grumbled, Jack sighed with a tone of resignation. There can be no living with the lass, nor Will after this... Which puts the thought to Jack's mind that those two were perfect for one another. "Perfectly unfit for piracy," he muttered as he proceeded to take off his coat.  
  
"You said something?" Will's attempt to look innocent was ruined by the wide grin swinging across his lips. Makes him look like a bloody fool too, Jack's mind added in a feeble attempt to lighten his sinking heart. Another glance at the corset and dress made him decide that nothing in that attire could keep his heart floating.  
  
So, with utmost unwillingness, Jack removed the rest of his effects. The belt with both cutlass and pistol was carefully placed over the love seat's armrest beside his outer coat, which had been thrown carelessly there. His captain's tricorn joined the items, and Jack winced when Elizabeth very unmindfully threw it over the hilt of his cutlass to clear room for the rest of his items.   
  
Holding up both hands in motions to pacify the cruel way the lass was treating his poor effects, he turned to Elizabeth with a pleading look. "Easy on the goods, darling."  
  
Elizabeth held up the whale bone corset in reply, causing Jack's eyebrows to suddenly raise. "Isn't that the one I cut open?" He winced when he caught Will turning a harsh glare on him.   
  
"You cut open her corset?!"   
  
Switching to pacifying the younger man instead, Jack found himself taking a step backwards. "An action I quite regret, I assure you."  
  
"It was when I fell from the battlements, I couldn't breath." Elizabeth explained as she thrust the hard item into the Jack's hands. The look the pirate gave the item would lead one to believe that it was the corset's fault he had to wear it.  
  
Awkwardly, he placed it around himself. It wasn't that Captain Jack Sparrow had no experience with these items, he had removed them often enough from women, though the fiery lass behind him being a peculiar case, but he never had to put one on before. And of all the amazing feats the infamous pirate can perform, lacing up a corset all by his onesie was not one of them.   
  
Just as he was contemplating if he should ask someone to help so he could get his dare over with or not, Elizabeth, he didn't know whether to bless or curse her, saw his predicament. "Don't move," she instructed as she took up the lacings.   
  
"Darling..." Jack began protesting, hoping to make a final stand against this humiliation. In the place of answering, Elizabeth pulled on the lacings, and instantly, protesting was forgotten as a sharp yelp was extracted from him instead. Jack had heard complaints of corsets being confining, but he never thought they would be this tight!   
  
Even Will looked a bit sympathetic as he watched the captain squirm. "Does it have to be so tight?" In his point of view, Jack looked nearly as miserable as when Elizabeth poured out his rum.  
  
"Yes." Jack tried to glance behind him but the lass pushed his head back around. "Stay still," she commanded before explaining to Will, "He won't fit in the dress otherwise." Jack frowned and looked towards Will with a slapped pirate look on his face. How could she sound so matter-of-factly when tying a corset, on a man, was beyond both men.  
  
With a final tight pull and a sharp yelp from the pirate, the gruesome task of putting on a corset was complete. Elizabeth stepped away to admire her work even as Jack waved his arms out to his sides and did the same. Will tapped his chin with a finger. It amazed him to see how even in a corset, Jack's demeanor still hasn't changed.  
  
Waving his arms about him in a large grandeur, the pirate tilted his head to one side and took a swaying step forward to study his ridiculous reflection in the window's glass panes. One eyebrow raised and fell before he turned and gave Elizabeth his grandest close mouthed smile. "You did a great job, luv." His smile broadened to reveal his teeth as well. "Now can I remove this thing?"  
  
"No, of course not! You still have to put on that dress." Moving around the bound up pirate, Elizabeth picked the pink dress up from where it was draped across the love seat's backing.  
  
Jack attempted to back away, and would have succeeded too if Will wasn't once again between him and his way out. So instead of moving in the opposite direction from that frilly thing, he ended up bumping against a solid wall of flesh. Grimacing, Jack took a step forward and faced the approaching woman. "I had rather hoped we were beyond this..."  
  
If Captain Jack Sparrow had kept the Mistress Luck under his sails for so long, it would seem that on this day, his mistress had deserted him. In the following minutes, despite his lavish protestations and uncooperative movements, the infamous captain of the feared Black Pearl, the same man who made a daring breakout from under the seven agents of the East India company, the one who could conjure up a miraculous leaving from an island he was marooned, could not escape a simple woman's garment.  
  
After several uncomfortable minutes, the most uncomfortable being for the pirate himself, Elizabeth and Will finally got Jack to wear the lacy pink dress that Elizabeth had so thoughtfully picked out. And upon completion, all three of them had to agree that the captain looked absolutely comical.  
  
Grimacing while watching Will suffer between peals of unsuccessfully stifled laughter, Jack turned to find Elizabeth was making no effort at all to stifle hers. He glanced down at himself, and as if coming to a decision, a slow admiring smile spread across his features. "Well, I suppose..." He extended his arms out to the side again, "...this dress doesn't look too bad."  
  
If Will had thought about reducing his rather loud chuckles, that final comment had unraveled him. The blacksmith found himself laughing to the degree that he had to support himself against the sofa seats.  
  
Right at that critical moment, the double doors to the room swung open with a wooden whoosh. Silence fell like a blanket over the room until it was at last broken by a father looking for their daughter. "Elizabeth! There you are! Commodore Nor-"  
  
Three pairs of eyes turned hastily to the doorway and locked upon the two figures standing there. Inwardly, Jack groaned. Could the governor and commodore have chosen a less opportune moment to come searching for the dear Miss Swann?  
  
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Sparrow-"   
  
Jack grinned up at the commodore as he weaved subtly past his two stunned friends towards where his effects were placed. "Captain," he corrected mildly. "If you please," he added as an afterthought for speaking to a commodore.  
  
Norrington continued as if he hadn't heard the interruption, "-in a dress." From beside the commander, a groan of disgust sounded from the governor.  
  
The pirate's eyes widened, and in an imitation of thoughtlessness, he glanced down at the frilled garment he wore. He was grinning when he looked up again. "A small misunderstanding," he explained with his fingers dancing through the air for emphasis. "Y'see, young Mr. Turner, the lovely Miss Swann, and I-" His explanation was cut short with an impatient wave from the commodore.  
  
"Enough with these excuses." Jack watched as the commodore turned his head to further shout orders behind him, thereby leading the captain to believe there may be a troupe of unfashionable red coats just waiting outside. An excellent reason for him to cut his visit short.  
  
Hastily, Jack threw on all of his removed items of clothing before the soldiers could storm in. The battered old coat that went swooping around his dress frilled shoulders bulged slightly to accommodate for the width of the dress and his belt with all its effects came to wrap snugly around his corset narrowed waist. The treasured hat was the last to be picked up, and that was fit fondly over the top of his head.  
  
"Well, as much as I would love to stay..." Jack started as he slowly backed himself up towards that huge window he had seen earlier. Aside from the doorway that was quite thoroughly blocked by the two wigged gentlemen, the window would be his only other escape route.  
  
A sudden twist in the paths his mind was wandering down made Jack pause in mid phrase. Training his eyes on the blacksmith standing halfway between him and Norrington, he asked, "Truth or dare, lad?"  
  
When Will turned, he bore the expression of a man both confused and exasperated. In his gaze, Jack saw clearly his question of how could such a game continue when Norrington and his men was just around the corner, but being the true friend the blacksmith was, the lad answered, "Dare."  
  
Jack had to give the boy credit for choosing dare in such a situation, but that wasn't the answer the pirate had wanted. What were the chances, the captain thought, that only time he wanted the lad to choose truth, and he picks dare. Letting out a short sigh, Jack motioned with his hand, "Say truth, lad."  
  
Confused but trusting his friend, the young blacksmith obliged. "Truth."  
  
Instantly, a golden teeth grin spread ear to ear on Jack's features. "Will..." He began the process of climbing out the window. Already, one leg was thrown over the sill, and luckily, since the room faced the back of the house, there were no red coats there. Yet.  
  
Perhaps Jack allowed that thought to come too soon, for at that exact moment, several said gentlemen in bright long garbs of red, lead by their upstanding commodore, came rushing into the room. The pirate glanced at them warily as he threw his other leg over the ledge as well. At least they hadn't thought of surrounding the house.   
  
From the back recess of his mind, he wondered if he shouldn't have taken Will's 'dare' after all and made the blacksmith stall them a bit, put those three hours of practicing per day to a good use. But upon reflection, there was the slight problem that the lad doesn't have a weapon.  
  
"Jack, get out of here!" The shrill cry of the governor's daughter interrupted Jack of his reverie, and looking back up, he found Will was attempting to stop their uninvited guests anyway, sans weapon. As he peered closer, he realized that Will wasn't quite as empty handed as he had supposed, the boy was holding a bronze candleholder. A moue was spreading across the pirate's face as he regarded that desperate situation. The lad just couldn't survive a perilous situation without performing idiocy, could he? No infamous pirate in history ever faced down soldiers with a candle holder!  
  
As Jack made himself ready to leap one off the high ledge of the window to the ground half a story below, he turned his head to give the struggling blacksmith a final question. "Lad, will ye watch me swing the gallows?"  
  
And in the heat of battle, attempting to fend off several soldiers with a candleholder and its complimentary fat taper, Will spared a moment to look over his shoulder to shout loudly in response, "Aye!" Not realizing his mistake, it took a stranded look from the pirate captain, and a soft gasp from Elizabeth before Will's eyes widened and he shook his head. "I mean no!"  
  
The answering grin was a wide one, and that trust of friendship required no other words, not htat he had time for them. Before those soldiers could overpower the poor lad, Jack leapt out of the house.   
  
As per planned, Anamaria met him in the bushes, and together, the two made their way secretly away from the estates.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Short Epilogue:  
  
The crew stared as Anamaria climbed aboard the Pearl with their captain... who was wearing, beneath his coat, a dress, a pink dress.   
  
Jack stared right back at them, unabashed and refusing to be ashamed. "What are you scabrous dogs staring at?! Raise topsails! Man the braces, you barnyard humbugs! Get to it!"  
  
In the face of their captain's orders, the gathered individuals quickly scattered, each going to their individually assigned tasks, all but two that was. Gibbs stood where he was, standing against the ledge with his canteen in hand, and Anamaria remained beside Jack. Both of them, it would seem, would not leave until they got a story from him.  
  
"Woman needs to learn how to take shallow breaths," he muttered, to no one in particular. He was thinking of one individual to be certain, but said individual was still back in the governor's house. She should consider herself fortunate that Jack was the one wearing the corset, and not her. In the face of all that excitement, he will not condemn himself a second time by saving her.  
  
When his low murmur raised already curious eyebrows even higher, Jack faced his two trusted crew mates. So in the form of three words, he told them in a tone that spoke of exasperation, "Truth or dare."   
  
Jack paused, and a voice in the back of his mind told him he forgot something. Looking down at himself and seeing the pink clothing he still had on, the thought that went awry suddenly returned. Smiling pleasantly, he turned to the only lady onboard. "Anamaria, man the wheel. I'm gonna find me some rum." 


End file.
